Saiyara Movie Review: A Storm of Love and Emotion

I wouldn’t say I watched Saiyara, directed by Mohit Suri, right after its release. But the buzz on social media about this film sparked my curiosity. On a Monday evening, the multiplex was almost full. Seeing the audience warmly welcome the film starring newcomers Ahan Pandey and Aneeta Padda felt quite good. The numbers suggest that the film grossed 119 crores worldwide during its opening weekend. Additionally, as a romantic film, it has also set a record at the box office.

What’s the story like? At the heart of Saiyara lies intense love. And this love follows a certain pattern. The boy is strikingly handsome, rough and tough, arrogant, temperamental, carrying a deep wound, emotionally unavailable, a Casanova, aggressive, a gang leader, a bit wayward, toxic, an alpha male—someone no parent could ever imagine their daughter being involved with. The girl, on the other hand, is calm, serious, innocent like a flower, soft as petals, beautiful like a dewdrop, disciplined, with a strong sense of self-respect, simple, and straightforward. In other words, it’s the bad boy-good girl meet-cute theory, where attraction is built on opposites. When two such people meet, there’s bound to be tension, conflict, and a chemical reaction. And love happens like a storm, before you can even comprehend it.

This has been a favorite format for filmmakers in the realm of romance across generations. In Mohit Suri’s films, we’ve seen this intense chemical reaction of emotions before, paired with addictive music. Saiyara follows this exact format. It’s the story of a girl, Bani, whose lover leaves her. Her marriage falls apart. She had come to terms with her sorrow. At such a time, Krish, an up-and-coming band singer, enters her life like a storm. The girl writes poetry. The boy sings songs. Naturally, through the story, they grow closer. The girl is an empath, so she easily picks up on the vulnerabilities of the arrogant, always-angry Krish and steps forward to help him. Love happens, but unlike other films, it’s not love at first sight.

Now, who will be the villain in this love story? The director decided it would be the girl’s illness. Early signs of Alzheimer’s are detected in her. Amid this, her former lover returns. As a result, the alleys and bylanes of past and present love become entangled. The way the girl’s illness is portrayed in the film creates some confusion about Alzheimer’s. Whether this representation of Alzheimer’s will raise questions is something experts can comment on. But the idea that after forgetting everything and living in that state for two years, she suddenly remembers everything in a moment feels quite unrealistic. Who comes to mainstream Hindi films looking for realism, anyway? However, in Hollywood, mainstream films nowadays take technical details and research seriously—they pay special attention to avoiding errors. I’m not an Alzheimer’s expert, but what I saw on screen didn’t feel believable.

The main attraction of Saiyara is Ahan Pandey’s presence, the chemistry between Ahan and Aneeta, and the film’s music. Apart from the title track, the other songs are also extremely melodious. They linger in your ears. In his debut film, Ahan has won over the audience in every way. It’s impossible not to fall for this restless boy with messy hair. His eyes speak. The most beautiful scenes in this film are not in the dialogues but in the silence—where a look says everything, where a look sparks love. Ahan Pandey can look that way. And Aneeta has fully utilized her innocent face in this film. Emotion is the film’s greatest weapon. The tear-soaked, heartfelt emotion of this love story is something the audience has been missing on the big screen. This pure emotion is the driving force of Saiyara. It’s reassuring to think that in the era of Animal, amidst violence, misogyny, and patriarchy, love, passion, and Saiyara triumph.